Tijuana's airport preparing for cross-border bridge

Interview with CEO of Mexican group that operates the Tijuana airport

The company operating the A.L. Rodríguez﻿ International Airport is a key player in a plan for a privately owned terminal in Otay Mesa that would allow ticketed, toll-paying airline passengers to cross between San Diego and Tijuana. JOHN GIBBINS • U-T

The company operating the A.L. Rodríguez﻿ International Airport is a key player in a plan for a privately owned terminal in Otay Mesa that would allow ticketed, toll-paying airline passengers to cross between San Diego and Tijuana. JOHN GIBBINS • U-T

Fernando Bosque is the head of a consortium that owns a dozen airports across Mexico, including the one in Tijuana.
— John Gibbins

Fernando Bosque Mohino

Born: Dec. 26, 1953, in Madrid, Spain.

Education: A degree in economics and business sciences from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.

Residence: Guadalajara, Mexico.

Family: Married, with four adult children.

Title: CEO since 2010 of the holding company Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico (GAP), which runs Tijuana’s A.L. Rodríguez International Airport and 11 other airports in Mexico.

Professional experience: Has spent his career in the airport industry, starting in 1976 in Spain’s Federal Aviation and Transportation Department. Worked in the private sector for companies that develop and operate airports, including the Spanish engineering conglomerate Ferrovial. Previous positions included CEO of MBJ Airports Limited in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

TIJUANA  Fernando Bosque Mohino is chief executive of Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico (GAP), a holding company based in Guadalajara that operates the A.L. Rodríguez International Airport in Tijuana and 11 other airports across Mexico.

Bosque is a key player in the development of a privately owned, cross-border facility to be used exclusively by ticketed airline passengers who pay a toll. Those users would be allowed to cross directly between San Diego and Tijuana through a 525-foot pedestrian bridge linking the Tijuana airport to a 45,000-square-foot terminal in Otay Mesa.

Bosque was interviewed during a visit to Tijuana and San Diego this week. Despite some hurdles and delays, he said the plan is moving forward.

The U.S. company spearheading the project, Otay-Tijuana Ventures LLC, is in negotiations with U.S. Customs and Border Protection over issues that include who would pay the salaries of federal officers assigned to the facility.

In Tijuana, GAP has been fighting legal challenges from the municipal government: Mayor Carlos Bustamante has said he won’t grant a land-use permit for the airport terminal expansion to accomodate the project until the company pays overdue property taxes.

Bosque said the only permit he needs is from Mexico’s federal government, and that GAP hopes to begin construction by April.

A.L. Rodríguez International Airport in Tijuana has recently undergone extensive remodeling. Fernando Bosque Mohino says a cross-border facility for passengers would increase use of the airport by making it easier to get there. JOHN GIBBINS • U-T

A.L. Rodríguez International Airport in Tijuana has recently undergone extensive remodeling. Fernando Bosque Mohino says a cross-border facility for passengers would increase use of the airport by making it easier to get there. JOHN GIBBINS • U-T

Question: Why did GAP decide to participate in this project?

Answer: This is an idea that is more than 20 years old. It’s good for the region, it’s good for Tijuana to have more connections so that people can travel to more places. This is not just something that’s needed on one side of the border. It’s needed on both sides.

Q: On the U.S. side, the cross-border project would involve construction of the terminal in Otay Mesa and the binational bridge. What needs to happen on the Mexican side?

A: The Tijuana airport is simply adapting its facilities and facilitating the connection to the bridge. We’re going to invest more than $14.5 million to expand the airport’s existing international terminal.

Q: What’s your timetable?

A: We’ve already started the process. By the end of February, we should have final construction plans and submit them for the Mexican federal government’s approval in March. Construction would be completed by May or June 2014. We’d like to see operation begin by July 1, 2014.

Q: Who would use the cross-border facility?

A: There’s a large number of residents in the California region who have connections to Mexico. Fifty-nine percent of passengers who use the Tijuana airport are either coming from or going to California.